Craft Beer Stories – Galactic Space Dragon

It was a hot day outside. The sun, shining bright, invited the masses to bathe in its rays. But I declined. This was great weather for a cold beer; however, I preferred to enjoy it indoors. I opened the window to let the breeze of a fresh day enter into my apartment. That’s as much “outside” as I’d get today. The wind carried itself into the kitchen, and I followed.

I opened the fridge and looked at my options; the usual suspects. Most of the bottles were old favourites, with one new beer I haven’t tried yet but wanted to save for another day. Then there was this one single can, green and white with strange waves and markings. I’ve never seen that before and frankly couldn’t remember buying it. The can ended up in my hand, it seemed, after I blinked.

“The heat is getting to me”, I mumbled to myself. “Let’s crack this one open.”

My finger aimed for the top of the can and as I moved it closer, the vision around the corner of my eyes blackened. Slowly, more and more of my surrounding became blurry. My eyes focused on the can. Silence and darkness enveloped my body with a sinister pressure forcing my view onto the beer can and nothing else.

A sudden “crack” and “fizz” enlightened the world around me. The walls of my apartment disappeared. A golden sky opened up in all directions, and beneath my feet was a scaly, green mass. I sat down on a saddle, riding the dragon as it glided through the vast, golden emptiness.

Not long after, planets appeared on the horizon. Soon we’d fly past these spheres and I could see the different worlds; tropical jungles filled with fruit baring trees that I couldn’t quite make out, but looked vaguely like pineapples; oceans of tart juices that come and go with the waves; and deserts void of anything but a few scattered, bitter hops.

The clear sky turned hazy with dusty particles flying through the air, clouding my vision. But the dragon moved onward, guiding me towards the end of our journey, where the planets collided. The dragon released a breath of green flames that burst towards the jungle, burning down the fruity trees. It beat its wings and send the pineapples into the juicy oceans, which flooded the desert of hops in an instant. But the wind also created a dusty tornado. I couldn’t see the fruits anymore, or the juice. All I saw was dust.

And then I saw my fridge; still open with its faint light in front of me. The can in my hand was empty. The dragon was gone and all that was left was the fading taste of tropical ashes.